Hello, yes I am still here, and yes, I am still working on this story. Thanks to those of you who left a review or comment, including QuizicalGin, bonkxd, Vijamoon, and all you anonymous folk. I hope you enjoy this chapter, but be warned it contains adult content.

Chapter 4

"Damn you."

Alturion cursed as Lizzie grinned down at him, having successfully used her own momentum to slam him down into the dirt. She straddled him, knees pressed into the wet soil on each side of his rib cage, while holding a wooden training blade to his neck. Her frenzied breaths made loose hair flop in and out of her eyes. Sweat glistened on her neck.

He let her have a moment to revel. But just a moment.

He grabbed her arm suddenly and flung her to the side, promptly switching their positions.

"Fuck!" she yelled. He had her pinned, forcing her to hold the blade to her own neck in a show of strength. He couldn't help but grin back at her.

He couldn't catch himself as his eyes flitted over her fervently rising and falling chest. She wriggled beneath him in a weak attempt to get free. Something danced in her dark eyes. He chuckled.

He pressed the wooden blade dangerously close to her jugular, letting his full weight trap her in the dirt for a few more moments. He felt when she gave up, the tension in her muscles going limp and her fingers sliding off of his thigh. Only then did he promptly climb off of her. He even grabbed her hand to help her get back to her feet.

"You're still not strong enough," he said. "But you're learning quickly."

"Give me a bow any day and I'll turn you into a pincushion," she shot back dryly. She brushed dirt and dust from her face and clothes, giving him a few ideas.

"I'd rather not," he replied. "But perhaps we could find some game to test you."

Surprisingly, she nodded with interest.

Days since her arrival had turned into weeks. After Lyndris informed them that they would not be continuing to Astranaar as soon as she'd hoped, Lizzie had thrown herself into their training sessions wholeheartedly. He was impressed with her determination. She had… grit, if there was no better way to describe it—and some sort of prior experience that kept her mentally steeled for whatever he threw at her. She rarely spoke about herself, but it showed in the way she pushed back, fought back, and picked up new information.

She may not have been physically his equal, but she was strong in other ways. For an out of place human of a mere twenty-seven years, he found her oddly alluring. He was beginning to catch himself looking at her differently. More closely.

Maybe he'd been out here too long. But he had never worked this closely with a human before, especially not a human female, and his own weaknesses were starting to show.

The afternoon sun was warm and they were both sweating and dirty. He watched as she tied her long, black hair up on top of her head in a messy knot.

"Perhaps a swim is in order," he suggested. "There is a creek not far from here, with a sizable swimming hole."

Her weary expression lightened immediately. He led the way.

It was not a far jaunt through the woods. He glanced back every now and then to make sure she was keeping up. She kept her eyes glued to the forest floor, being careful with every step as she made her way over downed trees and through thick underbrush. Even this was something she did much more quietly now than just weeks ago. She learned impressively quick.

As the sound of the bubbling creek met their ears, he caught a faint smile forming on her lips. He had not been back here in some time. The creek itself danced down the hillside and away through the trees. Where a jumble of boulders had tumbled from the mountains centuries ago, part of the creek was caught and split off into a second stream. In the middle was a small pool tdeep enough for treading water.

Without breaking his stride, he tore his shirt off and plunged headfirst into icy water. When he came back up, he saw Lizzie pulling off her tunic. He saw her wince a little as she stretched her arms above her head, but what pulled at his attention the most was the skin that revealed itself. She wore only a short, black top that hugged her chest in a way that made her small breasts appear more ample, while baring the rest of her shoulders, noticeable collar bones, and fairly untoned, but slender stomach.

He ducked his head under the water again before she caught him staring.

Yes, he had been out here for far too long. The brothels of Ratchet missed him.

He tried to shove his desires down deep. It would be too much to simply proposition her here and now. He imagined she'd get so mad that she'd try to push him down into the water, or knee him in an inconvenient location. He had certainly taught her better than he gave himself credit for, if the last few weeks were any indication.

He came back up for air just in time to see her step carefully into the frigid water. She'd removed her pants too.

He groaned at himself. At the muscle tone in her bare legs. At the shapes that revealed themselves without the cover of trousers.

He'd always had a weakness for misplaced and lonely people. Women, particularly.

This one was suddenly no different.

Lizzie sighed in utter contentment as she slid into the frigid water. It was good to wash away the sweat and grime that had accumulated on her skin, but it was also wonderful to soak her sore muscles.

She breathed in the humid forest air, noticing how warm it was compared to the cold creek water. Summer must have been approaching. She still had no idea when she was in the timeline, but at least she had a sense of the season. That would have to be enough for now.

She watched idly as Alturion set to scrubbing his skin with silt from the bottom of the creek. His back was turned to her, but her gaze lingered as she noticed the way the muscles in his back and shoulders contracted and moved as he washed himself. His indigo hair seemed darker and shimmered from the water that collected in it.

She slid all the way down into the pool and briefly submerged herself. She scrubbed at her scalp until it felt less grimy, then came back up for air. She ran her fingernails along her skin, hoping to scrape away whatever remained stuck to her. Then she found a sunny section of rocks along the pool's bank and pulled herself up so that she could simply sit, dangling her legs in the water.

She leaned back on her hands and tilted her face back, staring up at the trees, relishing the warm sunlight streaming down on her. The leafy canopy above shone golden and fuchsia in the sunlight.

"Do you know how long it will be before we can head for Astranaar?" she asked at length, breaking the calm silence of the forest that surrounded them.

"Lyndris was not clear. Only that there has been some kind of incursion from the north, and they are dealing with it."

"Horde?" Lizzie asked, tilting her head from side to side to stretch the muscles in her neck.

Alturion turned in the water so he faced her. "I don't know."

She sighed. "Seems like I'm stuck here, then."

The night elf raised a long eyebrow. "Do you have somewhere you need to be? You gave me the impression you were simply happy to be safe."

"I'm itching to find someone who can figure out how the hell I got here. Maybe even find a way to portal me back. If that's even possible."

"You may find the mages of Darnassus to be helpful. But it will be some time before we can make our way there." He splashed water onto his face and ran his fingers over it and up through his hair. "In the meantime, at least I've kept you busy."

"True," was all she replied. She carefully leaned back against the smooth rock beneath her, relishing the warmth emanating from its surface, and shut her eyes.

He was right though. She'd been doing little else but train with him, eat, and sleep. Lyndris showed herself occasionally, but she and the other sentinels seemed caught up in their duties and spent little time in camp. Alturion had been her sole source of companionship these last few weeks. It was welcome companionship, considering she might otherwise have been left to her own devices. And their combat training was surprisingly cathartic. it helped her to keep her mind off of her predicament.

Alturion worked with her on the basics of archery, self-defense, and hand-to-hand combat that involved using wooden practice swords. Although she already brought a few basic self-defense skills to the table, he focused on helping her learn to use her body against him. Compared to his almost seven foot stature, she was very small, but he encouraged her to focus on her quickness and speed.

Though she enjoyed the way the elf helped her to use her body against him, she still preferred archery. Her muscles were perpetually sore, and fresh bruises dotted her shins and elbows. Her left hand was beginning to form callouses, especially where she was constantly gripping the handle of her bow. Her index finger was raw from too many accidental collisions with notched arrows. It hadn't taken her long to feel more accustomed to a bow in her hands, but her arms ached from the effort it took to make an arrow fly straight. She was no stranger to long term endurance regimens, but those had always involved her legs, not her arms. She would simply have to adapt, and she was reminded of this regularly by him. Adaptation was something else she was no stranger to. And since she was quickly discovering that she preferred to keep an opponent at a distance, before they could touch her, her motivation to improve came easily.

He did not go easy on her, and she failed more often than she won. She didn't like how little confidence she had in these situations, but she had no choice except to try. It helped that he was not annoyed when she failed, and she was beginning to find his company more pleasant than she thought she would. However, there was something… off about him.

She had tried to pry more information about him from Lyndris. No one seemed keen on talking about why he was out here. He wasn't, strictly speaking, a sentinel. He had certain patrol and hunting duties, and certain upkeep tasks that needed to be done around camp, all of which he attended to on a regular basis. But despite going along with Lyndris' wishes, he was neither in a position of authority nor subordination. He was simply… there.

And when he wasn't sleeping or eating, he was either working, or training her. She rarely saw him relaxing. In fact, until today, she realized she had never seen him not doing anything, ever. Even the other sentinels had their occasional moments of contemplation or relaxation around the fire. But not Alturion.

As much as she knew she shouldn't be, she was curious. She'd seen enough to know not to trust someone simply because they proved themselves to be helpful or kind or—god forbid—a friend. A month of companionship did not equal trust. Trust was earned. Trust was proven.

She was torn from her thoughts at the sound of splashing water close by. She opened her eyes to see Alturion pull himself up onto the rocks next to her. He leaned back on his hands and let out a long breath, letting his own eyes fall briefly shut. From the angle she lay at, she just had to turn her head a little to look up at him.

She realized how closely he was sitting to her, but she was too comfortable in the warm sun to move. So she shut her eyes again.

"What would you say if I told you I've found you rather interesting?"

His question came slowly, carefully even. Lizzie didn't open her eyes until she had considered it for a moment.

"I'd ask what you meant by 'interesting,'" she replied.

"Unique, distinctive," he said slowly. "Perhaps even attractive, in some sense."

She looked up at him from the corner of her eye. "Are you hitting on me?"

His head turned so he could meet her look. His brow crinkled in a frown. "If you mean that I find you appealing, then yes."

She couldn't help but laugh. She shifted on the rocks so that her face was away from the sun.

"Does this idea bother you?" he asked after a moment.

Her answer was quick. "Nope."

She opened her eyes immediately as she felt fingers on her jaw. He turned her head to face him. She could only smirk to hide her surprise.

"We are both quite comfortable with each other," he said, removing his fingers from her skin as quickly as they'd arrived.

"Yes?"

She was waiting for the punchline. She almost couldn't believe this was happening. Her smirk grew.

"I'm simply wondering how much more comfortable you would like to be."

Her smirk escaped and grew into a grin. She looked away again, maybe out of embarrassment, maybe out of relief at an opportunity.

He had no idea how desperate she'd begun to feel in the last week or so. Her hormones had been in flux recently, due to monthly issues. Lyndris had given her an herbal concoction to help with the worst of it, but there were some symptoms that would never be satiated merely by drinking tea.

"How comfortable were you thinking?" she queried casually.

She felt his fingers trail down the side of her bare thigh. Just briefly.

He shrugged. "I'll leave that up to you."

She let the silence of the forest take hold again, listening as birds sang high in the trees above them.

He had turned his body enough that he was looking down at her, one hand propped on his knee, the other planted on the rock beside her head. Without thinking of it any longer, she reached up and slid her fingers into his wet hair. He followed as she pulled him down to her, meeting his lips with her own.

He tasted like the forest. She curled her fingers around his hair. Her breathing deepened as he pressed the kiss further. Each time their lips met, he seemed to renew his hunger. A hand slid down her bare side. Fingertips drew circles around her hip, playing with the hem of her underwear.

She broke the kiss to catch her breath. His silver eyes were darker and hungry, pupils dilated sizably.

"It seems we both have appetites," he murmured.

She let the corner of her mouth lift in a wry smile. He wasn't wrong.

She kissed him again and he met her fully. His hands skated up and down her body, adding warmth to her sun-soaked skin. She sighed into his mouth when she felt his touch along her inner thigh.

He was gentle, but moved quickly. Her heart beat faster. The need she had within her grew, so she opened her legs just a little to clue him in.

His fingers found their way inside her underwear. She gasped, and felt him smile against her lips. The hard rocks beneath her became little more than an impediment as she strained against him. She told him clearly what she wanted, and he readily gave. Fingers dipped, explored, delved, until she could no longer restrain the sounds that begged to slip out of her throat. She clutched at his hair as he took her lips in his teeth. One fang slightly nicked her. She didn't care.

Finally, she came. Her body clutched at his fingers, still pressing and kneading flesh. She didn't want it to end. He slowed his motions and retreated, dragging warm, wet fingertips across her stomach, circling around her navel as she shuddered.

She laughed softly as she finally came down from her frenzied peak. Then she reached down, feeling for him within his trousers. He reached for her hand to stop her.

"This isn't the best place," he murmured. He bent down and kissed her again.

She was still breathing hard. She glanced around them, realizing that the rocks beneath her were quite hard and uncomfortable. After what had just occurred, she would probably have some scrapes and bruises on her back and shoulders.

She sighed, laughing again, sitting up. Alturion dove back down into the water, coming up a moment later and shaking the water from his head and shoulders furiously. His ears flopped from side to side in a comical fashion.

"Are you sure?" she said with a faint smirk.

"Of course," he replied. "I've waited months to do that to a woman. I can wait a while longer."

His face seemed a slightly darker shade of ashen purple. And there was a noticeable bulge in his trousers. Lizzie imagined he was totally capable of dealing with that himself, but she couldn't help herself.

She slipped down into the water and sidled up to him. "We don't need to wait," she murmured. "We're here now, alone."

"Desperate, are we?" His voice vibrated deeply in his chest.

She bit her lower lip as she slid her hands around his slender waist. Fuck yes, I am, she thought. She purposefully pressed herself against him, and he groaned. Still he resisted, hands going down to restrain her wrists and stop her from touch him further.

"Someone is watching us," he muttered.

Her attention was torn from what she wanted to do to him towards where he was looking. She didn't see anyone. Just the trees.

"One of the sentinels," he continued. They separated, Lizzie feeling suddenly very self-conscious about her current state.

She climbed out of the water, leaving Alturion to his own devices. She pulled on her tunic and trousers, not caring that she was soaking wet again. The thought that one of the sentinels had been watching them gave her the creeps. How much had she actually seen? She felt her face grow hot as she made her way back through the woods to camp. She would have to pretend like nothing had happened. Otherwise, her face would be inflamed by the time she arrived.